DEFRA suggests welfare labels for food as part of new welfare strategy

DEFRA has published a strategy document which suggests that food could be labelled with information about the welfare conditions of the animal from which it was produced.

The Animal Welfare Delivery Strategy, which has been put out for a 12 week consultation, aims to increase society’s understanding and expertise in caring for animals, and to improve welfare above and beyond the baseline standards set by law.

It suggests improving the labelling of food would allow consumers to make informed choices about the food they buy.

Other proposals include building agreement on global animal welfare standards and improving the quality of training and education for animal keepers.

The document also suggests enforcing welfare rules more efficiently and developing a robust and thorough system for measuring welfare standards.

Junior DEFRA minister Ben Bradshaw said: “Everyone who keeps or works with animals can help improve their care. While it’s our job in government to set minimum standards by law, the public and our key partners also have a vital role to play.

“This strategy suggests ways we can take responsibility for different aspects of this issue and work together to achieve good animal welfare – it’s a subject that affects us all and we want to hear what others think of our vision.”